ABSTRACT

Scholarly undertakings, such as Project '87 and the American Enterprise Institute's study of the Constitution, are holding conferences and producing books and articles asking how and why the constitutional system of differs from the system designed in 1787. In addition, a number of more activist groups, such as the Committee on the Constitutional System co-chaired by Lloyd Cutler and Douglas Dillon, are considering what changes need to be made in the Constitution to make it better able to cope with today's problems. Most of the cerebrations focus on what constitutional changes should be made, and pay little or no heed to how much popular support particular proposals are likely to attract. Neither the polling nor the voting data provide conclusive evidence about what kinds of constitutional change Americans want, but the survey answers are suggestive. For example, it is clear that survey respondents are considerably more receptive than members of Congress to constitutional change.